Shutter ➳ CITRUS

Fourteen - Suzuran's Birthday

Mei's POV

"Yuzu, wake up." A grunt. "Zuzu, come on get out of bed." Yuzu's response was to cutely wrinkle her nose so I gently nudge her shoulder. She grunted again and threw her arm around my neck and pulled me towards the bed from where I'm kneeling beside it. With her strength, she managed to drag half my body on top of her. I would gladly stay there if that's what she wants but we have to be somewhere else. "You need to get up now slowpoke or I'll go without you." Her eyes snapped open and she squinted at me.

"You wouldn't."

"Yes, I wouldn't but it's enough of a threat to make you at least crack your eyes open."

She pretended to look mad for a second before pulling me down for a kiss I gladly responded to. "Can't we stay in bed for just another five minutes?" she asked with her puppy-eyed look. Who could say no to that?

"Fine, but just for another five minutes then we'll get ready."

She nodded eagerly. I prepare to move off her but she kept her hold on my neck. "No, you stay like that."

"Minx." My lower body's hanging off the bed and I adjusted myself so it wouldn't be as uncomfortable. Yuzu's still holding on to my neck, our faces only inches apart.

"You are very beautiful," she tells me while staring into my eyes. It caught me off guard and I faintly blushed.

"No, I'm not, I still have my bed hair," I muttered, looking away from her gaze.

She placed her hand on my chin and tilted it towards her. "It doesn't matter if you have bed hair, or post-coital hair, or no hair at all. You're gorgeous."

One of the reasons I fell in love with her is because of the way she always makes me feel beautiful even on my worst days. "Thank you," I said, feeling foolishly happy.

"Can I have another kiss?" I leaned down to press our lips together, Yuzu darts her tongue out to tease me. I bit her lip to tease her back. We broke away with ridiculous grins.

"How's your sleep?"

"Good as always. I'd rather woken up to you tangle up with me though."

"Me too. Some other day."

"Kiss me again?" I gave her a peck.

"Enough kissing for you until you get up and take a shower," I told her when I broke away and climbed off her, garnering a frustrated grunt. She stays in bed and yawned loudly, stretches her legs and arms.

"You know one way to save water?"

I knit my eyebrows together. "What? How?"

"Shower with me," she grins, a mischievous glint on her eyes.

"That's a wonderful proposition but I believe it would go against our time management."

"Come on, please? My back needs scrubbing." She pouts and her eyes do this thing where they go very round and I didn't have a choice but to say yes to whatever she was asking me, even if it means I have to kill a puppy.

The scary things I will do for this woman.

"Alright, alright." Yuzu hops off the bed and pulled me towards the bathroom.

It's Suzuran's birthday this Saturday and we're spending the weekend at her beach house. This means we have to get up earlier to avoid the traffic. The party includes me, Yuzu, Suzuran, Himeko, Ryuu, and Norman.

One shower and two pairs of wandering hands later, we're in our bathrobes sifting for clothes to wear.

"Wear that with that blue shirt," Yuzu tells me as I pull on a skirt and study myself in front of the mirror.